The present invention relates to a powder feeding apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus and method which convert a powder flow stream originating from a single source into one or more continuous powdered resin streams.
When powdered resins are fused to articles such as fasteners to enhance their frictional engagement and to create self-locking fasteners, it is important to uniformly coat each individual fastener with an equivalent amount of powder. A uniform coating ensures that each individual fastener of a batch of processed fasteners will display the same performance characteristics which may include, among others, the same locking and torquing characteristics. Thus, improvements in the even distribution of powdered resins directly enhance the performance and quality of the fasteners to which the powdered resins are applied.
Prior art approaches that attempt to improve the uniform distribution of powdered resins to a system's spray nozzles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,815,414 and 5,571,323. U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,414 discloses a system which uses a conical surface to direct the powder stream into a plurality of troughs for channeling the powder to the spray nozzels. U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,323 teaches using an adjustable metering valve, among other structure, for controlling the amount of powdered resin supplied to the spray nozzles.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method that are capable of converting a single powdered resin stream into a plurality of uniform powdered resin streams.